Mental illness carries a stigma that still makes life more difficult for people around the world today. But years ago, the stigma was much worse. People who suffered from mental illnesses had their names taken away so as to avoid shaming their families. They were given numbers instead, and when they were buried, they were piled into mass graves with just their numbers signifying where they were laid to rest.
One woman is trying to find out who these people were. She is trying to unearth their stories and their names in order to honor the lives of people who were always treated as though they were subhuman.
(via Upworthy)
We can only hope that Colleen Spellecy is able to find a legal loophole to uncover the secrets behind these numbered graves. The people buried at sites like this deserve to be remembered with a sense of respect and humanity.